Variety hosts first London dinner during BFI festival
Jack O'Connell, Sandra Hüller, Taron Egerton and Danny Boyle took seats together in Soho as Variety staged its first London dinner to celebrate the BFI London Film Festival.
The trade publication reported details of the evening on 15 October. The meal was held at Soho Mews House. It was billed as intimate, a single-room gathering held during the festival run.
International editor Elsa Keslassy hosted the dinner alongside Alex Ritman and Ellise Shafer, in collaboration with Studiocanal, according to Variety. That team led the room on behalf of the outlet. Studiocanal, a film studio and distributor active across Europe, came in as the collaborating partner.
O'Connell was on the guest list for the Soho Mews House dinner. Hüller was also there. Egerton attended as well, alongside Boyle.
The room also included Billie Piper, Gemma Chan and Rosalind Eleazer. Florian Zeller attended too, Variety said. The mix brought actors and film-makers together away from premieres and press lines.
This year's BFI London Film Festival is the 70th edition. It runs from 7 to 18 October 2026, according to the BFI. With 15 October as the current date, the dinner landed in the closing days of the programme, when many guests are already in London.
Submissions for the 70th edition are now closed, the BFI says. The line-up is therefore locked. Evenings such as this sit alongside the public screenings, giving guests a quieter space to talk during a crowded fortnight.
For a general reader, the pattern is familiar. Festivals fill cinemas by day and dining rooms by night. The public programme plays on screen. Much of the industry conversation happens in the hours around it.
For fans following from afar, the guest list is the news. It places names usually seen on separate posters in one room for a night. No prizes were given. No projects were announced.
What makes this stand out is the first in the headline. Variety regularly hosts dinners around festivals elsewhere. This was its first London dinner, and holding it in Soho kept the night close to the centre of festival activity. It was a short walk, not a gala.
